Cinco's Cantina - Rochester — Restaurant in Rochester

March 16 Cinco’s Cantina Rochester NH

Another first visit for us. Again, mid-day on a Sunday. Parking on the street outside was plentiful at the time. When we entered, my wife made fun of the signs that said “No standing” and asked if we had to crawl through the multiple sally ports to get to the front desk.

Once we entered we were quickly sat at a booth.

The restaurant itself is open and airy with definite Mexican vibes. There are characters on all of the chairs, all of the art work has a Mexican theme.

We were greeted by our server Luis, who brought chips and salsa and asked if we wanted anything to drink. I got a Dos Equis Amber with a salted rim. My wife got a Pacifico with a Salted rim. The chips and salsa were “as expected”. The chips were warm, and on the thick side. The salsa was a fairly thin consistency and had almost no heat to it. Both of our drinks were delivered quickly, at which time we also ordered a Queso Fundido from the dips menu. Both drinks were served in icy cold glasses, but were a bit light on salt for our tastes.

The Queso Fundido was delivered very quickly. It was a cast iron dish with the cheese still melting (not a bad thing) and tons of chorizo. (This may seem like sacrilege, but there could have been a little less chorizo on the dish, more on that in a minute). The dish was fine, but there wasn’t even a hint of heat. We're originally from Oklahoma, and growing up we became accustomed to our Tex-Mex having not just great flavor, but also typically some heat to it. We acknowledge that we’re in New England now, and that most Tex-Mex here doesn’t have much heat to it, but still miss it. My wife noticed that there was a House Habanero Salsa on the dips menu, so we ordered one of those as well. We promptly mixed some of that into the Queso Fundido which added the touch of heat that we had been missing. As the dish continued to melt my wife complained that it was greasy. I said, it’s cheese and chorizo, it’s going to be a little greasy as the chorizo renders… This is the reason for the previous sacrilege about less chorizo. I feel like it would have held up better if it were heavier on the cheese side of the ratio.

My wife placed her order for the Chicken Fajitas, no peppers, extra onions with some shredded cheese. I then explained the situation to Luis. He stood thoughtfully for a few seconds, again my wife said “Don’t tell him, just bring it” and Luis walked away. In the meantime the table next to us ordered the Table Side Guacamole. The Guac cart, as they rolled it to the table, sounded like a train in the room. The server who made the Guac customized it to the tastes of the table by asking what ingredients they wanted to include. The bowl of Guacamole that was delivered was huge.

Another round of drinks were ordered, for me, the same, for her an Infused Margarita with Blueberry.

WARNING: Epic failure on the reviewer approaching. When the mains were delivered her Fajitas were sizzling on the cast iron as they should be, and it came with a side plate that included beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, and guacamole, as well as a wrapper with tortillas inside (there was technically a bit of shredded cheese on the side plate, but she had to ask for some more). I was delivered a plate that looked very similar to her side plate, but with a couple other things, which happened to be a piece of chicken, a piece of steak, as well as some grilled onions. Luis didn’t indicate what it was, and I was so excited to start eating that I didn’t get pictures of any of our food as it was delivered. (Hence the epic fail warning). I quickly started cutting my proteins and making “soft tacos” of them with the provided flour tortillas and some of the other things on the plate.

Her chicken Fajitas were well cooked and flavorful. Both the steak and chicken had good flavor. She asked me what it was, and of course I didn’t know, but after consuming my first taco I pulled the menu up and deduced that it must be the Carne Asada Dos Compadres. The bill later confirmed my assumption. Both dishes, in...

Went for the 1st time on a Wednesday at 730pm. Walked into a 15-minute wait, surprisingly. Was smaller than it looked from the outside. We decided to sit at the bar. Our infused Mojito's were super good. After that, the service kind of declined they seem short staffed or maybe beginning stages of the flow of things. We sat without a drink for a long time. Had 3 different plates of food delivered to us that were not ours. Then ours was delivered to the wrong people. Food took a good 35 minutes to get, but it was worth it because the food was so good. We then ordered an infused blueberry marg and a Diablo something for my husband. He loved his. However, I couldn't drink mine it was super spicy. I asked the girl serving behind the bar about it and she said she wasn't 100 sure because she doesn't drink cause she was 19 and I explained to her I couldn't drink it because I didn't see anything on the menu stating the blueberry was infused spicy and she said she was sorry. I was a little frustrated that I had to pay for a drink i couldn't drink. Blueberry spicy drinks sound gross. I would have never ordered that. I still think it was not the drink I ordered. However, I sucked up and dealt with it because I really wasn't going to wait another 15 minutes for a new drink to be made. Our bill was about $99 for 4 drinks and 2 meals. Overall, we were pretty impressed with the flavors and freshness of the food. We just think they need some more help for the service.

Well, try again another time after they've been open...

My boyfriend and I tried Cinco's for the first time last night. We were promptly greeted and sat. The dining area was clean, the lighting was soft and the music was at a good volume where you could hear it but still be able to hear a fellow diner.

Our waitress, Nicole S., was understanding when we requested some extra time to look at the menu. We ended up ordering a bunch of different things (knowing full well that we'd have leftovers!). My boyfriend had a beer, and I had a slightly modified margarita. Nicole made sure to check in with me to make sure it tasted how I wanted it to and it did. I appreciated that small but thoughtful gesture.

In total for food we ordered the chicken chimis, a barria taco, the carne asada fajitas and the chicken burrito loco. We didn't wait long for our food. Everything was hot and delicious! Nothing was overcooked or dry. The presentation was nice - not sloppy like some other places we've been to. Nicole was sure to check in if we needed anything and anticipated the little things that sometimes get overlooked (e.g. refills without having to request them, extra side plates for sharing, a bag for our multiple to-go food boxes, etc). She was very pleasant throughout our dining experience and is a very attentive waitress. We will definitely be back and request her! We asked for the manager and told her so as well. We highly recommend...